Post-Election Exhaustion Is Real. Here’s What to Do About It.
Around 9:30PM on election night, I overcame my anxiety (with the help of a few optimistic text messages from friends) and turned on the TV to see the election returns. As I watched results come in, I felt excitement, joy, and a dawning relief. And, by a little after 10:00, I realized that my body felt like it was melting into the couch. Try as I might to acknowledge and be with my feelings, often we don’t realize how stressful something has been until it’s over. Of course, the fight for justice and democracy in America is far from over, but this felt like the end of a chapter and a shift in my feeling of what was possible.
Maybe some of you were out there canvassing, calling, writing, and getting out the vote, or doing other work to defend people and democracy. Some of you maybe just offered a little bit of support to those things where you could. Or, maybe you were just paying even partial attention and struggling to take in the realities of what’s been happening in the U.S. the past two years, which has been exhausting enough.
Over the past two years, we witnessed unprecedented attacks on the electoral process–the Supreme Court’s gutting of the Voting Rights Act, mid-decade redistricting, efforts by the federal government to obtain state voter rolls and purge them, and persistent disinformation about the non-existent problem of voter fraud. This was at the same time that we watched the devastating consequences of the last national election for human rights, racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, public health, safety net programs, international stability, and democratic norms play out. Many of us have been feeling a lot of anger, fear, horror, and shock, our nervous systems bracing for the next crisis or revelation. Some of this hasn’t changed, but this election feels like an opening, a meaningful shift.
In most ways, I hate the casual violence of old cartoons. But an image that sticks with me at times like this is when a character is running as fast as he can and runs off a cliff, then hangs there in mid-air for a moment, still running, before realizing there is nothing under him. That’s like this uncomfortable space between the new reality and the anxious energy that preceded it. We’ve run off the cliff into an unknown new reality and it takes time to stop reacting the way we have all along.
So, while many of us are finding much cause for joy, celebration, and renewed hope this past week, the exhaustion and disorientation are also real. It might be enough to just validate that, but this might also be a good time to think about what self-care might be needed to help you recover. Here are a few strategies to consider:
Rest and restorative activities. You might just need some time to do nothing, and that is very understandable! But there are many forms of nothing, and some give us more space to be with our thoughts and feelings than others. I’m as much a fan of TV shows and scrolling cat videos as anyone, but when doing those things we are distracting ourselves, and mental recuperation often requires silence and space to think. If we’ve been turning off our emotions about the state of the world due to overwhelm, this might be a good time to reconnect with them so that you can understand and move through them. Consider a long walk, listening to some relaxing music without doing anything else, meditation, or grabbing a little time to journal in silence. Unplugging and creating space for even an hour or two can be impactful. In my experience, that hour or two usually feels much longer and more open than an hour or two spent engaged with a screen.
Check in with your relationship to social media and news. Events like an election can get us into a pattern of nervously checking news for updates. It’s still good to stay informed, but a day or two of digital detox, or at least a reexamination of your patterns can be good. Do you need to shift into a pattern that is less draining and more sustainable? Is your media consumption supporting your goals for both civic involvement and your continued well-being? Consider using app timers to limit your time or limiting news reading or social media use to certain devices or certain settings. Mostly, pay attention to that nervous impulse to check and see if there is someplace else you can direct it, perhaps grounding, taking a few mindful breaths, naming your feelings, or directing your attention to the physical world around you. See previous paragraph.
It’s okay to feel joy when the world is messy. Sometimes when we recognize that the struggle for a better world is still ongoing, that people are still being unfairly targeted, and that it’s unclear how the future will play out, we can feel uneasy about also feeling happy. There’s still some threat of interference with election results. It’s also worth acknowledging that many transgender people are reeling after an election in which they were so often a target of attacks, and in which several states passed ballot measures excluding trans athletes from sports.
But there will always be more to do, and allowing ourselves to feel hope, joy, and relief will sustain us for everything we need to do to keep showing up in our lives and in the fight for a better world. It’s almost a therapy cliche that both things can be true, but it’s a good reminder that we are capable of holding complexity and celebrating at the same time. If there’s a part of you that wants to challenge your positive feelings about what happened, thank that part for its reminder that there is still work to do, and then ask it to take a well-deserved rest while you celebrate. Letting ourselves feel joy even in dark times is human and necessary, and that part of you that reminds you of injustice in the world will be there in the future when needed.
If the past couple of years have left you running on empty, you don't have to sort through it alone. Bodhi's therapists offer in-person sessions in Champaign and telehealth across Illinois, and we're trauma-informed, neurodivergent-affirming, and LGBTQ+-affirming. Text us at 217-731-4638 to set up a free consultation, or use the contact form on our website.
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